Joshua 8:8

8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord's command-see [that you do] as I have ordered you."

Joshua 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:8

And it shall be, when ye have taken the city
Entered it and become masters of it:

[that] ye shall set the city on fire;
not the whole city, only some outlying houses of it, to make a smoke which might be seen both by Israel and the men of Ai, for different purposes; for the spoil of the city was first to be taken before it was utterly burnt with fire:

according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do;
plunder the city, destroy the inhabitants of it, and then burn it:

see I have commanded you;
delivered the command of the Lord unto them, and therefore were left without excuse, and could not plead ignorance; besides, he was their general, and he expected his orders to be obeyed, as they ought to have been.

Joshua 8:8 In-Context

6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are fleeing from us as before.' While we are fleeing from them,

7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God has handed it over to you.

8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord's command-see [that you do] as I have ordered you."

9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.